Gypsy winced.
“I’m sorry he didn’t get in,” Dylan said. “Since we had Halina, I’ve discovered nothing hurts more than disappointing your kid.”
“Amen.”
“Except maybe breaking off a relationship you were invested in.”
“Okay, that was Miranda.”
He laughed. “Nope. Cooper.”
She frowned. “What? He’s only been over to your house once this week, and it was only for a couple of hours.”
“That boy can be a chatterbox when something’s bothering him.”
“He hasn’t said anything about it to me. He asks about Wyatt, but that’s about it.”
Dylan leaned forward, rested his elbows on his thighs, and clasped his hands. “I know how much you care about Wyatt. You can deny it up one side and down the other, but I’ve seen you with him. And I know Wyatt’s been into you for years. The fact that he kept coming back even though you didn’t give him a sliver of a chance says a lot.”
Gypsy exhaled. “He’s a good guy, and I overreacted. I need to apologize, I already know that. But when I think about patching things up and moving forward, I hit all kinds of walls. I’m in no position to take on another kid when I’m still asking my family to help me with mine. I need someone solid. Someone reliable. Someone to support me, not make life harder for me. And touring…” She shook her head. “I know what goes on when musicians tour. I left that life, and I don’t want it back.”
Dylan nodded. “I hear that, but I’m worried you’re seeing what you expect to see and not what’s really in front of you. Based on the dildo who fathered Cooper and your work in Miami, I could see how you would hold on to old patterns and fears. I don’t know much more about Wyatt than what I’ve learned from Cooper and Miranda and talking to him myself, so that’s something you need to parse out. But I’m here to tell you we men really are mere mortals and make a shit ton of mistakes. Sometimes we do it for the right reason, and sometimes we’re just idiots. But at the heart of it, most guys are good guys.” He grinned and sat a little straighter. “Me, for example.”
Gypsy laughed, but inside, she was hurting. Dylan touched on all her doubts. All her faults. All the reasons she’d pushed Wyatt away.
“I will forever bless the day Emma forgave and trusted me enough to love me again,” he said. “And I think you might want to rethink breaking things off with Wyatt. I’m not saying take him back, necessarily, I’m just suggesting you see the situation in the big-picture view, without the filter from your past coloring it. Because, honestly, by the way he looks at you and the way he talks about you and to you, I think he’s been in love with you for a long time. From what I’ve been able to find—and yes, I put my journalistic interrogation techniques to work when I saw the chemistry between you years ago—Wyatt’s an upstanding guy caught in a really tough situation, trying to make everyone happy.”
Trying to make everyone happy. “I hadn’t thought of it that way.”
Dylan shrugged. “Just my two cents.”
Another knock came at the door, and her manager stepped in.
“Hey, Brandy,” Gypsy said. “Everything okay out there?”
“Everything’s great. An artist came in asking if he could get on your calendar. I wasn’t sure how you handle your bookings.”
Gypsy forced a smile. “No time like the present. Tincture won’t be here to set up until eight. Toss this guy into the fire. Let him play a couple of songs and have the crowd decide if he should come back.”
Brandy’s smile gleamed. “Cool.”
She retreated and closed the door behind her, muffling the noise in the office.
Dylan stood. “Well, I better get going. I just wanted to check in with you.”
Gypsy stood and gave him a hug. “Thank you. I appreciate all you do.” She pulled back and smiled up at him. “Tell Emma I’ll call and work out some time for Hali to come over and play with Cooper.”
“She’ll love that.” He leaned in and kissed her forehead. “Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Dylan left, and Gypsy stood for a long time, just staring at the door. She thought she’d broken things off with Wyatt to protect Cooper, protect herself. But now she saw she’d broken it off over fear. And not even real fear, but fears lingering from the past.
“Well, shit,” she muttered to herself, rubbing her eyes.
She returned to her desk, slid into the chair, and glanced at her watch. Six o’clock. She wasn’t going to get that schedule done now.
Gypsy sighed and picked up her phone. She tapped into Wyatt’s number and typed before she could stop herself—again. Hey, when you get into town, can we talk? I’m sick over the way things ended. I didn’t handle it well at all.